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The parent company that owns Snapchat agreed to pay $35 million
but denied any wrongdoing.
At the heart of the issue is Snapchat’s photo filter feature.
Each time a user takes a selfie or uses a filter, that person’s
facial features are scanned.
Ed Yohnka, director of communications with the ACLU of Illinois,
has previously said the state’s biometric laws are in place to
protect Illinoisans privacy.
“It really does ensure that a private entity has our notice and
consent before they begin to use this intimate, personal data,”
Yohnka said.
Before the Snapchat case, the most recent company taken to task
involved Google. The lawsuit, which is similar to the one
settled with Facebook, claimed Google violated the state's
biometric laws with the Google Photos app.
Facebook was sued over its facial tagging feature. The
settlement included more than a million Facebook users in
Illinois for whom the social network created and stored a face
template. Payments of $397 started going out in May after two
plaintiffs who objected to the awarding of $97.5 million in
attorneys’ fees in the case dropped their appeal.
Although individual settlement amounts in the Snapchat case have
not yet been determined, Illinoisans qualify if they used the
features “Lenses” and “Filters” between Nov. 17, 2015 and the
present.
Anyone who submits a valid claim form by Nov. 5 can receive
settlement money after their form is approved by the Settlement
Administrator.
A final hearing on the case is set for Nov. 17.
More information can be found at SnapIllinoisBIPAsettlement.com.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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